The World's Second Largest Tobacco Market Launches A Crackdown On Smoking

Russia has launched a crackdown on smoking with a bill to ban
tobacco advertising and raise taxes on cigarettes to help tackle
a public health crisis in the world's second largest tobacco
market after China.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in a video blog that
44 million Russians, nearly one in three, were hooked on smoking,
and almost 400,000 die every year of smoking-related causes.

Under Health Ministry proposals, tobacco advertising – now only
allowed in some print media – would be outlawed, taxes increased
on cigarette sales and smoking in cafés and other public spaces
eventually banned.

The bill is expected to be submitted to parliament for approval
in the coming days.

"Every year (the equivalent of) a large city disappears,"
Medvedev said. "The government has adopted an anti-tobacco
strategy and today we are beginning to put it in place."

The habit of lighting up in Russia, where the air in bars, coffee
shops and stairwells is thick with smoke, is encouraged by the
cheap price of cigarettes. A pack typically costs around 50-60
roubles (around £1).

While President Vladimir Putin is a non-smoker and has
reprimanded ministers for smoking, some other top officials, such
as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, are heavy smokers.

Some people on Moscow streets doubted the measures would have any
effect. "People will smoke no matter what, its Russia," said
Viktor, a salesman who did not give his surname.

The government hopes the legislation will help improve life
expectancy, which at 62 for men and 74 for women in 2009, remains
low by the standards of other middle-income countries.

The Russian cigarette market, estimated to be worth around £13.6
billion in 2011 by Euromonitor International, is a significant
part of overseas tobacco companies' businesses.

Four foreign tobacco companies – Japan Tobacco International,
Phillip Morris, British American Tobacco, and Imperial Tobacco –
control more than 90 per cent of Russian sales and have been
lobbying to soften the proposed legislation.

The bill would probably become law next spring if submitted to
parliament by Nov 1, Nikolai Gerasimenko, deputy chairman of the
State Duma's health committee, was quoted by the state-run
Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

Russia's Finance Ministry has previously announced plans to
increase the excise duty on tobacco by around 40 per cent for
2013 and 2014 and said on Tuesday it plans to hike taxes by 10
per cent a year after 2015. The Health Ministry supports a
greater increase in duty.

The proposed legislation follows in the footsteps of other
countries, mostly in the West, who have imposed strict controls
on the advertising and sales of cigarettes and banned smoking in
public places.

British American Tobacco, which has 19.6 per cent of the market
according to Euromonitor, said in a statement the company is not
against tougher regulations, but MPs "have to consider the
interests of both non-smokers and smokers".

"There are various methods for this, from installing modern
ventilation systems to special isolation rooms for smoking in
public places," BAT said.

A spokesman for Philip Morris, which has a market share of 26.4
per cent, said it was premature to comment as the bill has not
yet been submitted to parliament.

Around 165,000 kiosk owners and workers have signed a petition
against the proposed ban on the sale of cigarettes by the
vendors. They say many kiosks, which provide work for around one
million people, could be forced out of business.

"Our customers will continue to buy cigarettes, but they will get
them from the bigger shops, where it's easier to buy everything
at once," said petition coordinator Vladlen Maximov.